Tuning peg for stringed musical instruments



Jan. 19 1926u 1,570,600

A. i2. @ROVER n- Ai,

TUNING PEG FOR STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed Jan` 18, 1924 y www;

Patented Jan. 19, 1926.

.ALERT D. GROVER' AND LOUIS H. BERTRAM, OF LONG'ISLAND CITY, YORK.

TUNING- PEG FOR STRINGED MSCAL INSTRUMETS.

Application'led January 18, 1924. Serial No. 686,964.

To all tti/wm t may' concer Be it known that we, ALBERT D. Gnovnr. and LoUis H. Beltrami, citizens or the A United States oit America, residing at Long Island City, New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Tuning for Stringed Musical Instruments, ot' which the following is a speciiicatioir Our invention relates to improvements in tuning pegs tor stringed musical instruments.

Tuning pegs ordinarily consist of a shank member having a square end portion and a thumb piece or button provided with a square hole to receive the square end of the shank. Substantially all otl the buttons used for' this purpose are made oll Celluloid and great diiiiculty has been experienced in broaching the square hole, a large percentage of the buttons being broken in the operation. Very often after the peg is assembled and attached to an instrument, the walls of the breached hole become worn and the button turns on the shank, which renders the device useless as a tuning peg.

TVith the foregoing in mind it is the purpose of our invention to provide a. peg of this character in which the necessity of broaching the hole in the button is avoided. We accomplish this purpose by means of the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of our improved timing peg; Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the peg on an enlarged scale; Figure 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Figure 2; Figure l is a transverse section on the line 4 4- ot Figure 2; Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line 5 5 of Figure 3; Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view ot aslightly modified form of construction; Figure 7 is a sectional view on the line 7 7 of Figure 6; Figure 8 is a perspective detail View of the sleeve used in the construction of the peg shown in Figure 6; and Figure 9 is a transverse sectional view on the line 9 9 of Figure 6.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figures 1 to 5, inclusive, 10 denotes the peg head, of a stringed musical instrument, having the usual bores 11 to accommodate the tuning pegs. According to our invention each peg comprises a shank member 12 having a. round lower end portion 1 provided with an axial threaded bore 14.

`The mid-portion of the Ashank 12 is tlat- 'portion of the shank. It will be noted that the shank 12 is considerably smaller in diameter than the bore 11 and when attached to the instrument a washer 17 having a surface to t'rictionally engage the conically shaped portion 16 is inserted into the upper end of the opening or bore 11. The washer is provided with a lateral flange 18 to rest against the edge of the wall ot' the peg head surrounding the opening.

The square portion 15 of the shank 12 projects through the bore 11 at the under tace of the peghead 10 and receives a sleeve 19 comprising a cylindrical member provided with a eonically shaped nose portion 2O adapted to project into the lower end of the bore 11, as illustrated in Figures 2 and The interior of the sleeve 19 comprises a large bore 21 which extends toward the conical shaped nose 2O and terminates in a square opening 22 the walls of which closely embrace the square portion 15 of the shank. The wall of the bore 21 at the opposite end of the sleeve is cut to provide a groove or channel 23 which is adapted to receive the full thickness of a thumb piece or button 24, the latter being provided with a round bore 25 to loosely receive the round portion 13 of the shank. A strong helical spring 25 is disposed about the shank in the bore 21 ot the sleeve 19 and at one end the springl bears against the bottom of the bore 2l and at the other end it yieldably bears against edge oi the button which is held against the sleeve by means of a retaining screw 26 adjustably mounted in the threaded bore 14.

According to this construction operation of the button will turn the sleeve 19 and through the breached opening 22 therein, the flattened portion 15 oit the shank 12 is turned in the bore 11. The t`rictional grip of the peg in the peg head 10 is caused by the pressure ot the spring 25, which tends to press the nose 20 of the sleeve into one end of the bore 11, and which pushes against the button at the other end to draw the shank 12 and conical shaped portion 16 against the tapered wall of the washer 17. The contact ot the nose 2O with the wooden peg head ot the instrument results in a very strong frictional contact between the two members7 which is very desirable in this type of tuning peg.

Referring now to Figures 6 to 9 inclusive, it Will be noted that We have omitted the Washer 17 and spring 25. The shank however remains the same, and the conical p0rtion 16 projects directly into the upper end of the bore 11 into contact with the Wooden material 0i the head. in this modification the Walls of the bore 21a closely embrace the shank 12 and the edge of the button is seat ed in the groove or slot 23 and held in position by the retaining screw 26.

Having fully described our present invention what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A tuning peg for stringed musical instruments, comprising a shank, a sleeve cnibracing a portion of the shank, one end oit said sleeve projecting into a peg hole and the opposite end of the sleeve having diametrically opposite recesses therein, a button having intact parts of its periphery projecting into said recesses, and means for securing the button to the shank.

2. In a tuning peg of the character described, the combination with the elements claimed in claim l, oi a spring housed Within the sleeve and bearing with one of its ends against said sleeve and with its other end against said button.

In testimonyv whereof We have aiixcd our signatures.

ALBERT D. GROVER. LOUIS H. BERTRAM. 

